Post-Bac Advice

[LaMedica17]

I've been lurking in the background for quite a while now, and I finally made an account! I am applying to post-baccalaureate programs in order to become a doctor. I am pretty confident I want to be a psychiatrist, but that could change once I'm in med school and do rotations in other specialties.

I got accepted to Loyola in Chicago back in late August and deferred my admission to the spring semester. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints this semester, I wasn't able to attend. I also applied to Goucher nearly two months ago and finally got all my paperwork rounded up by December, and they said I would hear back from them sometime in January. I haven't heard back, but I assume they are still on break or are discussing my application.

If I don't get into Goucher, I'm at a loss as to what I should do, where I should go. I live in Chicago, but the options are fairly limited here. I have family in Kansas City, but the options there are even worse than in Chicago. I could do a DIY post-bac at University of Central Missouri (my alma mater), but even then, I would be earning a second Bachelor's degree when what I really want is a formal post-bac program. I also looked into doing a DIY post-bac at UIC (state university in Chicago), but they said they would turn away anyone who was applying to take classes as a post-bac pre-med student and direct them elsewhere.

Finances probably aren't an issue in the future; I can talk to my parents and extended family about how to pay for more education, plus I will be considered an independent student in the fall for financial aid purposes. The only reason it was an issue this semester was because I wasn't able to get the money rounded up in time for school to start, and even with a payment plan, it was going to be too much.

My undergrad GPA looks good, sitting at a 3.93 (all A's minus one C in a psychology course), and my graduate GPA (for the one quarter I went) is a 3.77. I have prior hospital/mental health field experience (I worked as a Behavioral Health Technician in a children's psychiatric hospital for 3 months and served as a counselor -- my prior career path -- for 3 months as well). I didn't take the GRE because it wasn't required of my graduate program, and I'm not looking to take it anytime soon unless it becomes a necessity. I have no science background; my undergrad major was General Studies with a concentration in Spanish and a minor in Psychology.

With all that being said, I'm willing to go anywhere in the country. Where did you do/where are you doing your post-bac? What are some schools I should consider?

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[Cyborg#0]

Your situation looks like you only need to do pre-requisite classes and continue your extracurriculars. Given your excellent undergrad GPA, you have more options available for yourself. Structured post-baccs are great for hand-holding with extra attentive advising. Some structured post-baccs (i.e. Columbia, Bryn Mawr, etc) also afford you the ridiculous opportunity to matriculate directly into med schools without a need for a gap year, taking MCATs, and formally applying IF you hit their GPA performance thresholds of "linkage programs". I think this is the most effective path if you have the guts/tenacity/brains for it.

I personally did a less structured post-bacc at Fordham which allowed me to take all my classes in 1 year (I had already done Bio and Gen Chem in undergrad). I also skipped getting a committee letter when applying but still got into my top choices. The less structured style allows for you to have more free-time to work part-time or do something else if that's what you have to do.

Your local community college is probably the most cost effective. The drawback would be that you would need to be very much a go-getter that needs zero advising. This option also seems less viable if you have had weak grades in undergrad. You would also need to get a committee letter from your undergrad college if you wanted to get one too. Given your situation though, you might be able to pull it off.

DISCLAIMER: I am going to dental school, but I have seen a successful post-bacc, med school candidate in my program. At the same time, I saw a lot more unsuccessful ones. At the end of the day, it is all about absolutely crushing every single class!!! Cost of the program would probably be another top consideration.